Stranger Things (4)
by Arron-Philip
Summary: Joyce is taking her kids and El back to Hawkins for Thanksgiving, but after an unexpected visitor arrives during dinner, all Hell starts to break loose again. How did the 'unexpected visitor' get here? Why are so many plants disappearing? What are these nightmares plaguing El's sleep? All just signs of the trouble that's to come. And who's the new Police Chief? Can she be trusted?
1. Return To Hawkins

**Thursday, November 27th -1986**

Mrs Wheeler is in the kitchen, carefully scrubbing and drying the good China, preparing for her guests arrival. Thanksgiving Dinner was being hosted at Mike and Nancy's house, with Joyce, Will, Jonathan and El heading back to Hawkins for the occasion.

Upstairs, Mike is in his bedroom brushing his hair, trying something new, debating whether or not he should follow Justin and Steve's advice about the hairspray. Would El like appreciate his new appearance, or would she want to come back to the Mike she left behind? He looked down at the hairspray bottle, then back up at his reflection, debating internally, the gravity of his decision now sinking in.

Just down the hallway in her bedroom, Nancy is holding up dresses, skirts and tops in front of her mirror; a montage of geometric patterns, bright colours, black stripes and neon fabrics. She is completely undecided on what to wear for the moment she runs into Jonathan's arms again, after being apart for so long.

"Mike, can I get a hand down here? This table isn't going to set itself!" Mrs Wheeler calls up from the bottom of the stairs.

"What about Dad?" Mike calls back down, still staring at the mirror, holding his long hair upwards to try and get an idea how it would look.

"What about him?"

"Why can't he set the table?"

Nancy, listening from the safety of her own room, rolls her eyes as the conversation unfolds. She finally decides on a dress and smiles to herself in the mirror.

"Apart from the fact that your Dad and Holly have gone to Nana's for Thanksgiving this year, which I HAVE already told you..."

Mike gulps, paying attention now, as his Mom's tone intensifies. His Mom did tell him that days ago, but he'd become so distracted and preoccupied with the idea of El returning, he hadn't even noticed his Dad and sister had been gone for a day already.

"...I'm asking YOU to set the table, regardless of whether he's here or not!" Mrs Wheeler listens carefully, then hears Mike's bedroom door open. She smiles triumphantly and heads back into the kitchen.

Mike walks somberly downstairs, defeated, and into the dining room, where an unreasonably tall stack of plates and a pile of polished cutlery is waiting for him. Nancy bounds downstairs joyfully not long after him, wearing her dress. She runs into the kitchen to find her Mom, slaving over a hot stove, enough food there to feed a small country.

"What do you think?" She asks, giving her Mom a twirl. The deep-orange dress with short sleeves compliments her dark hair, and the slight tan she got over the summer.

"You look beautiful, Nancy! Jonathan is one lucky young man."

"I just wanted to make a good impression."

"A good impression? Sweetheart, you've met him before! This isn't a first date."

"I know, but - I meant - it's just that -"

Mrs Wheeler puts down the whisk she's using and wipes her hands on her apron. She turns and walks over to Nancy, placing a hand gently on her daughters face. "Jonathan won't have met anyone else while he's been gone. He's a nice boy, he wouldn't do that to you. And even if he had met someone else, he would've told you. He would never lead you on."

Nancy listens intently. Her Mom always seemed to know what to say and when to say it. "I know, I just worry that there are girls better than me where he is."

Mrs Wheeler lets out a sympathetic sigh and holds Nancy's head to her chest. Nancy wraps her arms around her Mom.

"Oh sweetie, he'd be an idiot not to see what he has here in Hawkins. And we both know he's not an idiot, don't we?"

Nancy nods agreeably. Just then, Mike appears from the dining room and breaks the gentle silence. "Why doesn't SHE have to help?!"

"Because I made two starters and two desserts last night! You've done nothing!" Nancy snaps back.

"I can't cook!"

"You could've helped your sister clean up last night?" Mrs Wheeler comes to Nancy's defense, placing her hands upon her hips.

"Cooking and cleaning? Why? I'm not a Stepford Wife in training!" He turns his gaze towards Nancy and smiles cheekily, knowing instantly he's hit a nerve. "Isn't that right, future 'Mrs Byers'?" He twists the knife in deeper, knowing that becoming a conventional house-wife, like their Mom, is Nancy's worst nightmare.

"You're dead!" Nancy shrieks out loud as she chases Mike across the kitchen, down the hall and up the stairs.

"Kids! Don't kill each other before dinner, please." Mrs Wheeler laughs lightly and rolls her eyes. "Oh, and Mike?..." She continues, "...I noticed my hairspray was gone - if you use it all, I'll be buying more using your allowance!"

It was about a 3 hour drive from Chicago to Hawkins, or just less than, and Joyce made sure that the green Ford Pinto was packed and ready to go for 8am. Will, Jonathan and El were all up and ready to go at that time, as Joyce wanted to be at The Wheelers residence early enough to help Mrs Wheeler with any cooking or preparation. She'd also baked some Autumn spiced oatmeal cookies for the occasion.

The plan for Joyce and the kids to come down to Hawkins for their Thanksgiving dinner was concocted one night when El had called Mike, and Mrs Wheeler answered the phone. After shouting down to the basement for her son, and waiting patiently for him to come away from his Dungeons and Dragons game, she made some small talk with El. After a minute or so, she asked El to put Joyce on the phone, and despite Miss Byer's protesting, Mrs Wheeler convinced her that she was more than welcome to come over for dinner. With both women having two kids at home pining after their significant others, it made sense.

Chicago hadn't been so bad. The weather was colder, but the people had been more than warm enough. Will and El had each other at school, and they had made a few friends in their classes, but they spent most of their free time and weekends together. Jonathan got a job at a local Blockbusters, and Joyce was working at Walmart. They both spent most of their time running the household and making ends meet, but they managed just fine, and life had been much calmer since leaving Hawkins.

El still had the letter Hopper had written her, and Joyce still had her memories. They never really spoke about him much, but Joyce always made sure to remind El that she could ask her anything she wanted. Nothing was off limits, especially where conversations regarding Jim were concerned.

In the back of the car, Will and El were reading a new DC comic, 'Watchmen', which was keeping them quietly engrossed during the journey to Hawkins. Jonathan had been practicing with his camera, taking a few impromptu snaps out of the car window. He sat in the front passenger seat beside his Mom, and kept her going in the right direction with the map he'd brought.

"Okay, you wanna take the next left up here, then keep heading straight." said Jonathan, following the red pen trail he'd drawn the night before with his finger.

Joyce listened attentively, nodding as he guided them. "You guys alright back there?" she asked, looking in the rear-view mirror. Their eyes didn't leave the comic book page, but both Will and El replied, "Yes." in unison.

"So... are you excited to see Nancy again?" Joyce asked her eldest son, knowing he'd squirm a little.

"Yeah, sure."

"It's been a while, you guys will have a lot to catch up on and talk about."

"Not really." He shrugged, wiping the lense of his camera with his sleeve.

"Not really? It's been months! Nearly a year, right?"

"But I haven't done much, I've just been working."

"I know, but you can tell her about your job. And your manager that looks like the little guy from the David Bowie film... you know? The one with the big maze? And she gets lost, and there's all those puppets?"

She looks over at Jonathan, who is a lot quieter than usual. She continues, hoping to nudge him out of his shell. "The little guy in that film who goes around exterminating fairies, your manager is just like him! What's his name?"

Will has overheard his Mom and raises his head. "Hoggle, his name is Hoggle. And the film is called 'The Labyrinth', Mom!"

Joyce smiles at his reflection, Will smiling back at her. "That's right, so it is! Well, he looks like Hoggle. You can tell Nancy that."

Jonathan nods. Joyce puts a pin in this for now, but she'll come back to it later. "What about you, El? I bet you can't wait to see Mike and all your friends!"

"Yes." El almost whispers her response, still not looking up from the comic.

Joyce doesn't push her. She remembers what it was like being her age, and when someone wants to be left alone, it's quite obvious. But now she's in a car for three hours with not one, but TWO kids who clearly want to be left alone, and that doesn't exactly make for a fun journey.

Joyce knew exactly what to do.

Opening the glove compartment, she reaches inside and pulls out a cassette. With a push of the hand and the turn of a dial, Madonna's new album 'True Blue' comes on, and Joyce turns it to her favourite track.

"...I see you on the street and you walk on by..." Madonna's distinctive voice calls out, over some heavy synth, and Will perks his head up, meeting his Mom's gaze in the rear-view mirror.

"... You make me wanna hang my head down and cry..." Joyce starts singing, knowing that soon she'll be joined by Will.

Jonathan sinks lower in his seat and tries to pretend it isn't happening. His Mom turns up the volume, and Will shoves the comic into El's hand. El lifts her head slowly to stare at Will, bewildered, as he boldly sings along to Madonna's latest single.

"...Open your heart to me, baby I hold the lock and you hold the key! Open your heart to me, darlin' I'll give you love if you, you turn the key..." Joyce giggles gleefully and Will dances happily, grabbing El's hand to make her dance too. She laughs, and joins him half-heartedly, as the small green car nears its destination.

Just then, as the car speeds past the familiar sign welcoming them to Hawkins, a small shrub by the side of the road starts to shake uncontrollably, any loose leaves being shaken off by the movement. The soil begins to part and seperate around its base, and pale brown tendrils emerge from the ground. The multiple roots, like decapitated worms, move across the mud and foliage, as if they're trying to reach for something, and continue to unravel from deep inside the ground, as if never-ending. The increasing sound of the shaking shrub unsettles a flock of crows, which take flight and fill the air like a black sheet, soaring and squawking over the quiet town down below. By the side of the road, where the shrub once was, is a deep hole in the ground, and a trail of leaves and wet mud stretching across the road.


	2. Dream Warrior

Mrs Wheeler walked down the stairs hurriedly, putting in an ear-ring as she descended.

"Kids, Miss Byers will be here any minute!" Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she crosses the hallway towards the mirror, the sound of her heels against the floor echoing throughout the house, and adjusts her appearance. She wipes a small streak of dark red lipstick from her front tooth, and as she does so, she gazes into the dining room. To her horror, the job of setting the table has only been half completed.

Nearly growling, she storms angrily to the table and screams upstairs, "Mike, what was the ONE thing I asked you to do today?" She slams cutlery beside plates, and folds napkins in a rushed rage.

Upstairs, Mike is in his bedroom, talking to his friends via walkie-talkie. His mom's calls go unheard.

"What's the first thing I say to her?" Mike asks, his leg twitching nervously as he sits, perched on the edge of his bed.

Lucas rolls his eyes, and flops over onto his back on his own bed. "Uhm... Hi? That might be a good start!"

Mike sighs, agitated. "Well, duh! But it's been so long."

"It's been even longer for me and Suzie!" Dustin reminds Mike, standing in his kitchen, licking cookie dough from a spoon as his Mom bakes, "And I know exactly what I'm going to say to Suzie when I see her again."

Max laughs, "Let me guess... it either involves the words 'Suzie-Poo', or a song by Limahl, am I right?" Max is walking through the hallway to her dining room. She stops by the door and looks at the three place settings, her heart sinking a little.

"That was one time! ONE time!" Dustin defends himself.

"Yeah, that WE know of." Lucas adds.

"Just be yourself Mike, that's what El likes, and that's what she'll have missed."

Mike smiles gently, feeling better. "Thanks, Max. I guess you'll know best."

"Why? Since El and I are the same species?" She mock interrogates him.

"Lucas!" All the kids jump and pull away from their walkie-talkies as Erica suddenly shouts into her brothers bedroom.

"What is it?"

"Mom told ME to tell YOU to move your ass, before she moves it for you!"

"Why does she always send you to torment me?"

"Why have a child if you can't make them do the things you don't wanna do? Like come up to this room..." She lifts her chin and sniffs loudly. "...It smells nasty in here, what died?"

"YOU, if you don't leave me alone!" Lucas jumps up from his bed, and all the kids laugh over the walkie-talkie as he pushes Erica out the door, slamming it shut behind her. "I better go guys." He says, defeated.

"Yeah, me too... I'm pretty busy." says Dustin, his mouth full of cake batter from the next spoon he picked up to lick clean.

"Happy Thanksgiving, guys." Max says, trying her best to sound cheerful, knowing she'll soon be sitting down to dinner - the first Thanksgiving without Billy.

The calls end, one after the other signing off, and Mike is left sitting alone. He picks up the hairspray and gives it one last look, then tosses it back onto the bed.

Joyce turns the car radio off just as 'Papa Don't Preach' comes to an end. She and Will have been singing so hard, they're nearly out of breath.

El turns to Will and whispers, "That is Madonna?"

Will nods enthusiastically, "Yeah, she's awesome!"

El slowly starts to nod with him, "We like Madonna?"

Joyce looks at El in the mirror. "We do! And deep down, Jonathan does too."

Just then, El looks ahead and sees Mike's house appearing in the distance, her eyes growing big at the sight.

"We have arrived." Joyce declares, as she guides her Pinto slowly into the Wheeler's driveway.

They all emerge from the car, Jonathan gathering their duffel bags, and Joyce her Tupperware of baked-goods. Mrs Wheeler, having the room, offered for Joyce and the kids to stay the week, in order to let the kids properly catch up.

Jonathan gulps anxiously as they all make their way to the front door. Will is excited, eager to talk to Mike all about the new Watchmen comic, and El trails quietly behind the group. Joyce checks her hair quickly in the reflection of the front door window. She rings the bell and clears her throat, practicing in her head what she'll say to Mrs Wheeler. She didn't know her very well, despite their kids being best friends growing up, and as women, they were completely different.

Mrs Wheeler opens the door and grins, genuinely happy to see them all.

"Joyce, how lovely to see you!" She holds her arms out and they hug breifly, Joyce using her one free arm.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Karen. I baked cookies, I hope you like them."

Mrs Wheeler takes the Tupperware and smiles warmly, "Oh I'm sure I will. Hey kids, how you all doing?" She asks, looking over Joyce's shoulder. Will is the only one who really responds, which throws her off slightly. "Well, come on in, I'll let Mike and Nancy know you're all here."

They follow Mrs Wheeler into the house, and Jonathon dumps the bags onto the floor. He turns to see El come in last, closing the door behind her. He's noticed she's been a bit down lately, so he tries to cheer her up. "You know, if your powers were still working, I wouldn't have had to carry them all the way up the drive. No use having a little sister if she doesn't have powers." He whispers to her.

El giggles and responds, "No use having a big brother if he won't carry my stuff."

Jonathan nods, "Touché."

"Kids..." Mrs Wheeler begins shouting upstairs, "...You have visitors!"

Without missing a beat, Mike and Nancy's bedroom doors are open, and both are descending downstairs, as if it's first thing on Christmas morning, headed for the bottom of the tree.

El sees Mike, and for the first time today, her face lights up. He waves awkwardly, and she runs over to him, hugging him tightly. Nancy walks over to Jonathan demurely, trying to play it cool. She gives him a small kiss on the lips, causing him to blush. Will waits patiently for Mike and El to release one another, and then the two best friends embrace.

Joyce and Mrs Wheeler watch on, smiling. "We should give this crowd some privacy." She says, leaning into Joyce, and they head off into the kitchen.

El looks away from Mike for a moment as she sees Joyce walking away. Joyce looks over her shoulder towards El, offering a soft smile. El's turns her head away, almost flinching, offering no smile in return. Mike notices this, but says nothing, not wanting to ruin their reunion.

Mike, El and Will head downstairs to the basement, where they catch up and wait for dinner to be made.

"I couldn't believe my Mom let me buy it!" Will exclaimed, brandishing the Watchmen comic.

"Anything with blood on the front cover would be a resounding 'No' from my Mom." Mike confessed.

"I think the yellow smiley face might distract her."

The boys start laughing, and begin rifling through the glossy pages. Mike looks over at El, who is sitting by the D&D board quietly.

"El, you alright?" Mike asks gently.

"Yes." she responds, without even looking up from the little plastic character in her hand, "Tired."

"I guess you guys were up early this morning to get here?"

"El hasn't been sleeping for the last few weeks. At all! She's lucky if she gets an hour a night." Will informs him casually, not even looking away from the comic.

"What?" Mike is surprised, unaware of this. "You didn't tell me that El. Every time you've called, why didn't you tell me? Sleep is important, people need sleep."

"There's no point, I'm fine." El tries to reassure him.

"You don't seem fine."

El looks up at Mike sharply, and replies, nearly snarling. "I'm fine!"

Will senses the oncoming argument and tries to diffuse the situation. "She'll be fine Mike. They say it's insomnia."

"They? Who's they?!"

"My Mom sent her to a medical place with specialists. Just for a little while. It's for people who can't sleep."

"She sent her?" Mike jumps up, looking between Will and El.

"Well, I mean, it was voluntary, she didn't force her." Will puts down the comic now.

Mike walks over to El and sits opposite her, the board game and small plastic figures separating them. "Where did Mrs Byers send you? Did she leave you there?"

Will jumps up now, "Hey! That's my Mom you're talking about!"

"I'm talking to El, Will."

"And I'm talking to YOU!" Will snaps back. Mike listens now. "She isn't even her daughter, but my Mom spent a lot of her own money - money she can't afford to spend - to pay for people to help El, and they're trying!"

"I'm sorry, Will... it's just, people in white coats... I don't trust them... do you?"

Will calms down, seeing where Mike is coming from, "We're in Chicago now. It's not Hawkins. We're trying to move on, and part of that is realizing that not everybody is out to get you."

Mike nods, then turns to El. "Are they helping you there?"

El is silent. She looks at Mike, then over at Will. "I don't know."

"How don't you know? Are they bad guys, or good guys?"

El shrugs. "I only see them when I'm awake, and Joyce is there... and then I'm asleep, and..." she trails off, staring into space, clearly thinking of something horrifying, "... I have nightmares."

"At least you're sleeping though, that's good. That's why my Mom took you there, and we all have nightmares." Will tries to reassure her, and defend his Mom's actions.

El shakes her head. "I had nightmares before... but never like this. These are different. I can't leave them, and they make me do things. I can't control it."

"Who makes you do things?" Mike asks her, concerned.

"My nightmares." El responds, almost whispering, as tears begin welling in her eyes.

Mike looks over at Will, who has gone quiet. Will tries to make sense of it all, shocked that he lives with El, and yet had no idea this was happening."You mean, like... sleep walking?"

"Sleep walking?" El tilts her head, curious. She's never heard this term before.

Mike begins, "Sometimes, people get out of bed in the middle of the night, still asleep, and do all sorts of crazy things, but they have no idea they're doing them until they wake up. My Mom used to wake up and vacuum, and my Dad would have to go downstairs and bring her back to bed."

"What do your nightmares make you do? What can you see?" Will stands up and joins them at the table.

El looks away, thinking of one particular night in the Chicago Sleep Center. Joyce had dropped her off on the Friday night, and this particular incident was a few nights later.

The insomnia El suffered came out of nowhere, but given everything El had been through in her short life, Joyce wasn't surprised. She had been worried El's powers might come back, and although Hopper seemed able to deal with them, Joyce didn't know how well she'd cope with a powerfully telekinetic adopted daughter. She was glad it was just insomnia she had to deal with these days, and nothing more.

The sleep center wasn't a prison, and El knew that. She was used to being taken places full of machines and monitors. Bright, clinical rooms, with two way mirrored windows and wires attached to her arms and head, transferring brain waves and pulse readings for the people in white coats to decipher.

El had been left in her room, drugged and hooked up to monitors, gradually falling asleep, something she very much needed. Her eyes grew heavy, and her limbs became weightless. Then, before she knew it, she was in that place. Everything was dark, inky blackness, and El stood staring into a vast and endless void stretching out all around her.

She looked down at her white hospital gown and bare feet, standing on what seemed to be a floor of completely still water, like a mirror. She moved her toe slightly, and the ground rippled in response, the reflection shattering and spreading outwards.

In her bed, El was asleep. Her eyes closed, moving rapidly under their lids. She began to breathe loudly, and started tearing the wires from her arm. After a short pause, she raises one hand out of bed, aiming it towards the television on the wall of her room.

In front of El, in the void, a television appears in the distance. She raises her arm towards it, looking at her own arm, surprised by the movement. She uses her other arm to try and push it back down by her side.

In the hospital room, a small trickle of blood falls from her nostril as the television switches on, bathing the room in a pale blue glow, white and grey static across the screen.

The television, floating in mid air in the distance, suddenly rushes towards El, and she flinches as it comes to a stop right in front of her, the bright, glowing rectangle of static like a tear in the fabric of this black void. She looks at the screen, confused, and then at her arm, still suspended in mid air, like a puppet being manipulated by an invisible puppeteer. She tries desperately to lower her arm, but the more she tries, the more rigid it becomes, her veins tensing and bulging as she uses all her strength, against her will, to keep the television lit up.

A nurse walking by El's room looks in and sees the television on. She steps into the room, glances at El, who is laying with her eyes closed, looking somewhat distressed, extending her arm outwards. The nurse walks over, uses a tissue to clean her bloody upper lip, then lowers her arm, tucking the blanket around her.

El watches as her arm lowers, not entirely sure how or why it is suddenly lowering, although she can still feel the unseen force trying to pull it upward again. Then, all of a sudden, a face begins to emerge from the static. A pixelated, almost skeletal face becomes visible, fading in and out of transmission on the screen before her.

El turns away as the television, still hovering in mid air, edges towards her slowly, more and more. She begins to run into the darkness, shouting and crying, unable to wake up due to the drugs she's been given. Her bare feet splashing in the water, the distorted echoes of her screams reverberating all around her. Looking over her shoulder, the glowing skeletal face on the television is rushing after her quickly, almost making it feel like she isn't moving at all, simply running on the spot.

All of a sudden, she is stopped in her tracks, her face slamming into something, and she falls backwards, bashing her head off the ground. She stares up into the blackness, disorientated, her head throbbing in agony.

Back in reality, the nurse leaves the room after reattaching El's wires and setting up the monitor again. On her way out, she picks up the TV remote and turns off the TV.

El gets herself up eventually, the ominous pale blue glow gone, the television now having disappeared. She stands up, dizzy and sore, and she looks down at the water on the ground, seemingly lapping against something. El looks ahead, and sees nothing but the familiar darkness stretching on infinitely. She walks forward, cautiously, reaching out her hand, and above the straight line cut in the water below, she feels a cold, hard wall. Invisible to her, but definitely there.

Like a mime act, she feels her away along it, following the wall to her left hand side, and she rounds the corner. She looks down at the water, which has gone still and calm now. She stomps her foot harshly, causing the water to fracture, and the waves hit against the wall she's pressed against, now also revealing many other walls, reaching out for as far as her eye can see.

El's eyes widen and she slides down the wall and onto the floor, deflated. Until the drugs wear off, she's trapped here. She doesn't know how, or why, but she's trapped. And she's trapped in an invisible maze.


End file.
